Rain welcomed by some farmers

SHREVEPORT, LA (KSLA) - You don't have to be a farmer or horticulturist to know that crops in the Ark-La-Tex could use a little water. "The stuff still growing we have, this rain is a big help," says Mike Billings, a farmer north of Shreveport. For some crops, the rain is more of an obstacle at this point. "I fact some of these farmers probably wanted to cut this corn, they'd probably like it not to rain," says Billings. But for another crop. rain is still very welcome. John Sloan gave up the conventional crops for sod about six years ago. "It has to have a certain amount of water to keep the dirt together, if you see here, this is sand it'll shake lose but when it's wet, it's good for it," explains Sloan. And for farmers a good rain is a great alternative to watering your crops yourself, a center pivot watering machine can put out 1600 gallons of water in one minute. "We're trying to water it as much as we can with the center pivot, but we could never beat what a rain does," says Sloan. The conveniently cut squares of a future yard are on their way to nurseries across the Ark-La-Tex, and thanks to the rain, there are more to come. While it's too little too late for some corn, it's still good news for fruits and vegetables throughout the region.